Educators gather in Kearney for career conference

Hundreds of the state’s top education leaders are in Kearney this week for the annual Nebraska Career Education Conference.

Nicole Coffey is the state coordinator for this year’s event, now in its 41st year.

“We have a little over 600 participants at this conference,” Coffey says. “They range from career education teachers to school counselors to administrators and they come to gain tools, knowledge and skills that they can take back to their classroom, whether it’s best practices or actual technical ability.”

Coffey says career education helps benefit today’s students.

“Nebraska Career Education is about preparing students for lifelong learning, earning and living,” Coffey says. “Truly preparing them to be college- and career-ready to explore some career opportunities and really help them get a better handle on what they might be interested in doing.”

Richard Katt, state director of Nebraska Career Education, says the conference has become an important learning tool for educators.

“This is our largest conference we’ve ever held,” Katt says. “We are growing on the state level. Career technical education courses are expanding in state schools and the basic purpose behind that is, employers are demanding new employees with technical skills as well as the employability skills that we help students develop.”